Taming a Shewolf
by jjjc517
Summary: Leah is an independent shewolf that hates all vampires, that is until she meets Nahuel. Nahuel is a vampire that has always felt like he was on the outside. Will he feel the same for Leah, or will their differences keep them apart?
1. Chapter 1

I don't own any of the characters; they all belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.

I was ready for one of these vampires to make a move; I needed to take one of them out now! I hadn't been in a real fight with any vampires since the redhead had come with that army of hers. This was killing me; I wasn't a "sit back and watch" kind of girl; I needed to fight. The Volturi were here to fight, and we all knew it, but what was taking them so long to attack? We all knew how this was going to end, but we weren't going down without a fight. Somehow, with the birth of Renesmee, the Cullens had become part of our pack, well, sort of.

Suddenly, the little pixie showed up. How could she have left her entire family, knowing what they would be up against? I never would have done that. I'd never understand how she did that. The pack and our tribe was my whole life; I would die for any of them. Wait, she wasn't alone. She was with her mate and two women. Then I noticed him. Even from across the meadow, I could feel something change inside of me. What was happening? Every instinct in my body told me that I needed to get down there… to protect him?

"Hold steady, Leah!" Sam thought to me.

"Sam, the Volturi are not only going to kill the Cullens, they're going to kill all of us, and I can't wait here. We gotta get down there." I wasn't sure why all the sudden I had such urgency, but I knew I needed to be near him.

"Leah, I don't know what's gotten into you, but we're here to help, and if we go down there, they'll definitely try to kill us all. Why are you so protective over the Cullens all the sudden? This is so unlike you. Now focus, and just wait until we get the signal from Jacob."

I tried to calm myself and focus. If I hadn't already been in wolf form, then I would have phased-I was that anxious. _I should just go down to that meadow. _I really didn't need to take orders from Sam anymore-he wasn't my Alpha; Jacob was. If only Jacob hadn't given me strict orders to follow Sam, then I'd be down there right now. Then I heard the pixie call him Nahuel. _What a beautiful name for such a beautiful creature._ Whoa, what was I thinking, and where did that come from? I couldn't stand being around vampires; I did _not_ think this one was cute. There was no way; then that feeling hit again. He was talking, and he had the most beautifully warming voice I had ever heard. My heart melted at that moment. His voice matched him perfectly; it was dark and warm and hypnotizing. Then I noticed he was like Renesmee; we could all hear his heart, which meant he was only half vampire.

The Cullens and Volturi spoke with Nahuel for a little while. When they finished, the Volturi started to deliberate the fate of not only the Cullens, but everyone here. Nahuel looked up at us. As soon as our eyes met, all I could see was his beautiful, light brown eyes; they were piercing my soul. Nothing in the world existed except the two of us.

"Leah, what's going on? Why are you making that noise? Are you purring?"

"Sam, get out of my head now!" I would _not_ let him know what was going on with me.

"Are you okay? I think you might be smiling?"

"Sam, if you know what's good for you, you'll get out of my head now! Nothing is wrong, and I'm not smiling; I'm focusing like you told me to! So leave me alone!" If I could have gotten in Sam's face without taking my eyes off of Nahuel, I would have. I had imprinted on him. But how? He was a vampire, and I was a wolf.

"So is Jacob," Sam whispered in my head.

"Sam! Get out!" He knew I was thinking about Nahuel and what had just happened.

"Stop thinking about him, and so will I. You're focusing so much on him none of us can think of anything else, and we really need to concentrate now, Leah. This isn't over yet. You'll have your time to figure things out when this is done, but you have to let it go right now. I know you think you just imprinted, but this feels different than when the others in the pack imprinted."

I didn't think anything back to him. I hated that Sam knew what I was thinking, what I was feeling about Nahuel. I tried to focus on what was going on in the field, but I couldn't stop taking glances back at Nahuel. He kept staring at Bella. How could he be staring at her? I didn't get everyone's fascination with her. I wanted him to look back up at me; I wanted those beautiful eyes on me. But did he even know what I really was? All he would see when he looked up at us was a giant wolf, but I wanted him to see me; the real me.

They made their decision. There would be no fight today. I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn't want a war going on down there if Nahuel might get hurt, even if I wanted to rip the Volturi apart. I'd only seen him once, and I already couldn't picture another day without seeing him again. I would die to protect that vampire. Something had really changed in me in the last hour.

The Volturi started retreating, quickly and cautiously. Eventually, all that remained were the three leaders and four of their guard. We all remained on alert. We knew that they might be playing a trick on us, and we weren't going to let our guard down and let them try anything. The three leaders turned and retreated, leaving only their four guard members behind. The four of them looked around, sizing us all up. I had a feeling this would not be the last time we would see them.

After they'd all left, the other vampires started leaving group by group. Sam gave us the orders to retreat back to La Push, but there was no way I was going there. I needed to talk to Jacob. I wanted to ask him about everything going through my head, so I told Sam I'd hang out and make sure no Volturi came back. I waited until all the wolves went back to the res, and I headed towards the Cullen's house. I could hear farewells coming from inside as I paced back and forth behind the house. Where was Jacob? I needed to talk to him, but since I had been in wolf form and I had no clothes nearby, I needed him to come outside. I was growing impatient, and I started to howl. Just as I did, a few of the visiting vampires walked outside. Everything in my nature told me to kill them. I didn't realize I was growling at them until Jacob had run outside and told me to stand down. I backed up towards the woods, but I did not stand down. I needed him to phase so I could talk to him. He wasn't phasing though; I could tell he was worried about the visiting vampire's reaction to me. I growled again, trying to make him understand. Finally, Edward walked out.

"Jake, she needs to talk with you."

"Edward, I can take care of Leah."

"I think you might want to phase and go speak with her. She has so many things running through her mind I can hardly keep up with her. She needs to speak with you now."

I hated that so many people could see in my mind. Just then, Nahuel walked outside. I froze right where I was. This beautiful man controlled all of my emotions and didn't even know it. I stared at him, knowing he still could only see me as a wolf and that he wasn't looking at the real me. For once, I wanted someone to look at me and not see a wolf, or Harry's daughter, or Seth's sister, or Sam's ex.

Jacob jumped off the porch and finally ran into the woods to phase.

"Leah, what's going on? Why are you acting weirder than normal?"

"I, uhh… I mean, I'm not sure, but, I think… I mean, what did it feel like when you imprinted on Nessie?"

"Nessie? Since when do you call her Nessie? You've never called her that before. And why are you asking about imprinting?" Jake was prodding me for answers I just wasn't ready to give him. I had to be sure that was what had happened. I knew some vampires had special abilities, and I wanted to make sure Nahuel wasn't using some ability on me. Luckily, I'd become a pro at hiding some of my thoughts from the guys in the pack recently, so he knew I was hiding something, but not what exactly.

"Jake, can you ever just answer my questions?"

"Not without some answers from you first. You know I can just go in your mind and get them. You can't hide them forever, but you know we're all trying not to see so much of each other's personal thoughts."

"Jake, please don't make me explain yet; I need to make sure first. Please, just this once, be a friend, not an alpha, and answer me."

"Wow, you must really want some answers; I've never heard you call me a friend before," Jake said, rolling over on his belly and laughing. I really didn't want to explain this to Jake now-not like this; I wanted to make sure first. Maybe I was hoping I hadn't imprinted on a vampire. How could I have? They're our enemies.

"Okay, Leah, I'm not going to press you, not now at least. Trust me, though, you'll know if you imprint on someone; it'll change your whole perspective on life. There's nothing I wouldn't do to save Nessie. She's my heart and soul; she's my everything. This might sound selfish, but if, today, in that field, things had gone differently, I would have fled with her before anything happened to her. I would rather run and hide with her forever then let one of those Volturi lay a hand on her."

"Jake, you'd leave the pack for her?" I asked him, knowing what the answer would be. I knew if he had to make that decision who would win and that I would be left to go back to Sam's pack. I knew that if things had gone differently in that field, I would have raced down, grabbed Nahuel, and run with him, and I hadn't even really met him yet.

"Never mind, Jake; don't answer that." I noticed that I was still pacing, unsure what to do, but knowing that I had, in fact, imprinted on Nahuel. Why had I even needed to ask Jacob? I'd known the answer in my heart all along. I guessed I needed to hear myself think about it to know it was real.

"Yeah, Leah, I'd leave the pack to protect Nessie, but you don't have to worry about that because I'm not going anywhere if that is what you're thinking. Nessie is safe now, and the Cullens and the pack are getting along okay, so there's no reason I need to leave, at least not anytime soon." Jake brushed up against me, trying to comfort me. He probably would have phased back and hugged me, but he knew I had no clothes and wasn't going to phase.

"But, Leah, I'm flattered you have a crush on me, and you're worried that I was going to leave, but you have to know you haven't imprinted on me. You know that's not how it works; don't be silly."

I was furious!

"You cocky jerk! I don't have a crush on you; I can barely stand you! I was just asking about imprinting; I wasn't talking about anyone in particular and you're really the only one I can ask about this stuff. The other guys that have imprinted think I'm crazy, and it would kill Sam if I asked him."

"Then what was the urgency of right now?" Jake asked, starting to catch on that there was something more.

"Oh, uh, I just needed a distraction from all the bloodsuckers hanging around. I've been so wound up; I just needed to get away from them all for a few minutes, and I thought it was a good time to ask. I'm going to go hunt for a little while. You want to join me?" I was hoping he bought it and I was struggling to hide my real thoughts.

"No, I need to get back and say goodbye to the rest of our guests. Bloodsuckers or not they just saved Nessie's life, so I owe them that at least. Esme is making breakfast in the morning for everyone, and I want you to come; the pack will all be there," he stated. He wasn't really asking me so much as making sure I knew to be there.

"Will all the visitors be gone?"

"Yes, they're all leaving tonight; you're going to be there, right?"

"Yeah, I'll be there." I took off to hunt, not waiting for anything else.

"Nine AM, Leah; you'd better be there!" he screamed in my head as I charged into the woods. What was I going to do? Maybe once Nahuel left tonight, I wouldn't have this screaming in my soul to retreat back to the Cullen house. Every step I took, it became harder and harder. I stopped running and phased back to my human form. There was no one around, and all I could hear was nature, and she was telling me to retreat and to go meet my destiny. Destiny-what is destiny? I screamed as loud as I could for as long as I could. The pain that was ripping my heart apart from being away from him was competing against the pain in my head, telling me my whole being was to kill his kind. I knew somehow Jacob managed this; maybe it would get easier. Maybe when he left, I could go back to before; maybe, I thought.

I sat out in the woods by myself, naked and cold in my human form all night. I knew in wolf form, Jacob could probably still hear my thoughts, even this far, and I didn't want to chance going back to the area until I knew Nahuel would be gone. Eventually, I fell asleep. I awoke when I felt the rays of the sun beating down on my face. I phased and raced back to La Push to get dressed. I knew I could not be late, or I would hear it from Jake. I was only a couple minutes late when I walked up the porch and saw Sam sitting outside with Emily.

"Leah, I need to talk to you for a minute," Sam said.

"Not now, Sam, I'm hungry." I knew he'd seen how I felt about Nahuel. I wasn't going to talk to him about it while he was sitting there, holding Emily's hand and eating breakfast with her on the porch. At that moment, I realized the love they had for each other, and I was actually happy for the first time that they had each other. I knew that I would never have that, though, because my only chance left last night, and I would not go looking for him. Realizing this helped because as I opened the front door, the pain in my heart was fading. The smell of vampires stung my nose, but I had been getting used to the smell of the Cullens. There was a strange, sweeter smell here today, though; it smelled like the rainforest. It was intoxicating.

"I thought I told you nine," I heard Jacob yell from the kitchen as he walked in carrying three plates of food.

"I'm only a few minutes late, and if you were so hungry, why didn't you come hunting last night?"

"This isn't all for me. If it was, I wouldn't use multiple plates; come on, Leah." As he turned to the table, he handed one of the plates to Renesmee, and then he handed the other plate to the boy sitting next to Renesmee, who was looking at Bella. I could not believe my eyes; Nahuel was sitting at the table between Bella and Renesmee. My heart stopped beating.

"Leah, don't be rude; stop staring. Let me introduce you to Nahuel. Nahuel, this is Leah." Jacob introduced us and nodded for me to come over and properly introduce myself.

"Jake, I thought you said they were all leaving last night," I stated, more harshly than I'd meant to.

"Nahuel decided to stay for a while and teach Nessie a few things and learn a few things from us," Bella interjected.

Then, before I could realize what was even going on, Nahuel got up from his seat and came over to me.

"Hi, Leah, I'm Nahuel. I'm very happy to finally meet you." As he reached for my hand, my heart began to race.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own any of the characters; they all belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.

Thanks to my beta Cedward!

Thanks to Bforqueen for prereading!

I hope you like it!

The moment Nahuel's ice cold skin touched my hand, my body was on fire. I had never felt anything like it before. Every cell in my body was aching to know every minute detail of his life. When was his birthday? What was his favorite color? Did he have a girlfriend? That last question hit my brain hard, but not as hard as it hit my heart. I didn't want him to even look at another girl, much less date one. What was I thinking though? Nahuel was a vampire, at least a half-breed. There was no way I could even think about being with him. It wasn't possible.

"Leah, let go of his hand," Jacob scolded me as he saw the expression on my face. He finally realized who all my questions about imprinting had been about, and he didn't look happy.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Leah," I said sheepishly, retracting my hand from his beautiful grasp and not acknowledging Jacob.

"I don't mind. Your hand is very warm, warmer than the humans I'm used to touching," Nahuel replied to me with that beautifully warm voice of his; if he only knew how much his voice warmed me inside_._ I had a feeling things were about to get complicated. I could feel Jacob glaring at me and wanting to scold me, but I didn't know what to do.

"Leah, outside now!" Jacob reached for my arm, trying to pull me away from Nahuel. I didn't budge. Jacob grabbed a hold of me and started pulling me toward the door. Nahuel stepped between Jacob and me.

"Jacob, I don't know what's going on, but release her arm right now. She obviously doesn't want to leave, and I'd like her to stay, so do not make me take your hand off of her."

Jacob was furious and wasn't going to let Nahuel touch him, or me, for that matter. I was afraid Jacob might phase and hurt Nahuel. Then I heard Jacob commanding me to go outside, followed by that stupid, must-obey-the-alpha instinct setting in, and I had to go with Jacob.

"It's okay; I'll be right back. I need to talk to Jacob anyway, and now seems like as good as time as any. It was nice meeting you."

"The pleasure is all mine. I hope you come back when you're done talking to Jacob." Nahuel gently pulled my hand and brought it to his mouth, placing the gentlest of kisses on the top of it.

I smiled at Nahuel as my hand dropped, and I walked toward the door with Jacob still holding onto my other arm; as soon as we got outside, Jacob released me. I felt like I would have a bruise in the shape of his hand across my bicep because he'd held me so tightly. I looked at the forest surrounding the Cullen house, not wanting to look at Jacob, not wanting to have this conversation with him yet, because I hadn't fully had this conversation with myself. I took off running into the forest, hoping to escape from it all.

"Leah, you want to explain to me what just happened?" Jacob growled at me, not happy about me running off, but at least I hadn't phased-otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to catch me.

"I don't think I really need to explain it; what you think happened is exactly what did happen."

"He's a vampire, Leah. Please tell me you didn't imprint on a vampire." Jacob was pacing around me, but he wasn't looking at me because he knew the answer.

"Jacob, it's not like I had a choice," I stated, answering him, but more telling myself how I really felt.

"Leah, this is dangerous." He turned and faced me, making sure I got his point.

"How's me imprinting on him any more dangerous than you imprinting on Renesmee?"

Jacob was seething. "Don't you dare compare me and Nessie to you and this guy we just met! Leah, we know nothing about him. I've known Nessie her whole life, and she'll grow up knowing the differences between vampires and werewolves. Plus, Nessie isn't venomous; Nahuel is."

I wasn't sure what to think. If Nahuel was venomous, there was no way we could have an actual relationship. He could poison me with his venom. I hadn't thought about that.

"Jacob, what am I supposed to do? You of all people know we have no choice. I can't change that I've imprinted, and I can't change that he's part vampire." I started wondering to myself-why must I fall for the one, half-breed male on the planet? I would now have to live a lifetime without love, without happiness. I knew the only way I could have those things was if I was with Nahuel. That's how the imprinting worked, and I would have no choice but to keep a safe distance from him. Many of the guys in Sam's pack had imprinted on girls, and with that, they knew what the rest of their lives would be like. What would mine be like? Would I be constantly on the run, trying to stay away from the one person that made me feel anything since I was with Sam? Would I be able to stay, but always pretend that I felt nothing for him, when my heart hurt being this far away from him?

"You're going to have to try to stay away from him, Leah. I know it'll be hard, but it's for your own good. We know that vampire venom can kill us, and we cannot lose you as part of the pack. I won't let you take that chance."

Jacob was speaking to me as the alpha, commanding me to stay away from Nahuel. I didn't know if I could, or if this would be one order I didn't follow. Several moments passed before Jacob finally spoke.

"Leah, if you cannot stay away from him, you must only be his friend. He's not part of our world, and he's not staying forever. I know that this is going to be hard on you, and that it's not fair to you, but there's no other way. Do you understand me? Keep your distance, and I'm going to be watching to make sure that's all that happens."

"Jacob Black, you are _not_ my father, and even though you might be my alpha, you will _not_ order me around when it comes to this. I know that we can never be more than friends. I'm not going to pursue anything with him. Now, can we please go back to the house? I'm hungry." I really wasn't going to pursue anything else; I knew I couldn't.

"Leah, I'm just trying to make sure you know how it has to be. We can go back, as long as you keep your distance from him. He's going to be here for a while, learning from the Cullens and teaching Nessie a little about him and his sisters, so I need to know you can control it," Jacob added, actually seeming concerned.

"Jacob, I promise I'll stay away from him and let him be." I thought Jacob knew as well as I did that I would really have no control over this at all, but I had promised.

We walked back to the Cullen house slowly. Neither of us was in a hurry for the reality we were going back to. Jacob knew how difficult this would be on me, and he knew all of the wolves would feel it when I was in pain. We were anticipating the questions we were going to get from the scene we'd left so hastily. Edward would have read our minds as we were getting closer and would know what was going on, but he wouldn't have time to explain it to everyone else. Plus, it wasn't his place to tell everyone why we left, so he wouldn't anyway.

As we walked up to the house, Nahuel was standing on the porch waiting for us. He looked extremely worried, like he thought Jacob had actually hurt me. He looked at my arm and saw the mark Jacob had left on my bicep. Then he forced his way between Jacob and me, like he was protecting me.

"Jacob, I like you, and I'm looking forward to learning more about you and your pack, however, if you ever lay a hand on Leah again, I will end you," Nahuel spoke, looking up at Jacob, who was a good six inches taller than him. He stood like he was ready to stop anything that tried to come near me. He was protecting me from Jacob. I'd never had a guy stand up for me, protect me like this.

"Look, buddy, I'm her alpha, and when I tell her to do something, she must do it. If not, I need to show her who's in charge and make her. Leah and I are cool. But I promise you, you threaten me again, even if it is about Leah, and we'll go at it. You need to back off and chill out." Jacob was trying to keep his cool, knowing Nahuel knew nothing about pack dynamic, but he wasn't really succeeding. Just then, we heard someone racing through the house, running down the stairs, and flying out the front door.

"Nahuel, what just happened? I just saw your future go blank." Alice pushed her way past Jacob and into the situation. At that moment, I knew the imprinting was a two way street, and Nahuel felt the same for me as I did him. It also raised a question in my mind because if Nahuel's future went blank, that meant he was planning on staying in contact with us wolves for a while. What did this mean for our future, and how was this going to work?

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	3. Chapter 3

I don't own any of the characters; they all belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.

Thanks to my beta Cedward!

Thanks to Bforqueen for prereading!

I hope you like it!

Nahuel turned to face me after Alice had spoken. I was staring in his beautiful eyes, hoping that Jacob and Alice would go away. The conversation the two of us needed to have didn't need an audience. He was staring back at me and looking directly into my soul. Every fear I had disappeared as we gazed into each other's eyes. I knew in that moment that no matter what happened in our lives that he was the one for me. He was my other half, and I was no longer thinking about what could happen if we pursued this. I wasn't thinking about the other people standing with us, who I could barely hear speaking. The world as I knew it had stopped, and with this one look, my forever started.

"Leah. Leah, can you hear me?" Jacob questioned me. I finally heard him speak, but I had no idea how many times he'd asked me that question.

"Jake, I hear you. Can you please be quiet for a moment? I think Alice was going to say something," I said, taking my eyes off Nahuel for the first time in what felt like forever to look at Alice.

I hoped that she would realize what had just happened, like I had. I was hoping that Alice would help me make Jake understand that Nahuel felt the same way, and I was really hoping that someone would help me understand what needed to happen next. Just then, Nahuel gently grabbed my hand and laced his fingers through mine. In that one movement, he was telling me that I was not in this alone, that he was with me. His slightly cold hand should have made me shiver-it should have made me retreat my hand-but it had the opposite effect. His hand touching mine warmed me from the inside; it made me relax beyond belief.

"Jacob, Renesmee was worried when you disappeared and is looking for you. Perhaps you should go find her." Alice winked at me. _I think she might actually help me out with this._

"Leah, I'm not done with you. And you," Jacob stated, pushing his finger into Nahuel's chest, "if you ever move me out of the way again, we _will_ have a problem. That was strike two, and if you didn't know, three strikes, and you're out. This is your last warning. Next time the Cullens will be sweeping you off their porch."

"Jacob, you need to go find Renesmee." Alice pushed Jacob through the front door.

"Nahuel, I apologize for Jacob; wolves can be so testy. I think you two need to talk, and you don't need an audience for it. You're more than welcome to use the study upstairs; it's the first door on the left."

"Thank you, Alice," I told her, grateful that she was willing to help me out.

"After you, Leah," Nahuel said to me as he continued to hold my hand but ushered me through the front door and up the stairs.

I had no idea what I was going to say to him or why we were going to have this conversation right now. After all, we were upstairs from a room full of vampires and werewolves that could still hear us. Everything seemed like it was going too fast. I had only seen him for the first time yesterday, and now we were about to have a heart to heart about what was happening between us. My brain was so confused, and I started to get weak in the knees. I didn't realize that I was tripping on the stairs until Nahuel was holding me in his arms, against his hard chest, and asked if I was okay.

"I'm fine," I stuttered as I pulled myself out of his strong arms and almost tripped over another stair in the process. I was embarrassed that I was so clumsy around him; I wasn't a clumsy girl.

"Why don't we just go into the study for a moment?" He said to me with his warm, gentle voice.

We walked into the study, and he still had his hand on my back, escorting me in. I quickly stepped across the room, trying to put distance between us. Everything in me told me to stay close to him, to be touched by him. But there was a small part of me that was terrified of him. He was a vampire. In my human form, he had the upper hand between us, and I didn't like that at all.

"Leah, are you okay?"

"Uhh, I'm not sure. How much do you know about my tribe and us wolves?" I asked him, hoping he would know more than I thought he did.

"Alice told us a little about what we'd see when we arrived, but she didn't give us many details. For instance, she didn't tell us that one of the wolves was actually a beautiful woman," he said as he turned away from me, like he was nervous.

"I'm the only one of my kind, as are you. I don't particularly like the Cullens because it's their fault we are how we are. So I can understand why Alice might not have mentioned me." I hoped I could somehow explain imprinting to him better than it was explained to me the first time.

"_Leah, we need to talk," was the first thing Sam said to me as I answered the phone. It worried me because he'd been so distant lately._

"_Well, hello to you too. What's going on, Sam? I haven't seen you in a few days. Are you going to come over?" I asked him, wondering what could have made him so distant._

"_No, Leah, I think it's better if I tell you this over the phone. I don't want to lose control, and I have a feeling I might when I explain this to you," he told me with a shaky voice._

"_Sam, what's wrong? Will you just spit it out, please?" I was getting impatient with him. I wanted to know what was going on; we were in love, and something just felt off._

"_Leah, I know you're not going to understand any of this, and I wish I could explain it better, but…" He trailed off, trying to figure out whatever he was going to tell me._

"_Leah, there's someone else," he suddenly blurted out after a few moments._

_I couldn't think. My brain stopped working. I couldn't comprehend what he was telling me; I must have misunderstood him._

"_What do you mean there's someone else?" Feeling my heart break with each word I spoke._

"_I had no choice. There are things that happen, and when they do, you have to follow the path you're given. If there was any way to change it, trust me, I would." He tried to convince me._

"_If you had a choice? I don't understand. How do you not have a choice in who you love? This is the twenty-first century, you have all the choices in the world." I started to cry. "Sam, how could you do this to me?"_

_The phone line went quiet. I sat there crying for several minutes, not even sure if he was still on the line. I had never felt so hurt in my whole life. How could Sam fall for someone else? Where did he meet someone else? He was always on the reservation._

"_Sam, who is she?" I asked, not really wanting to know but needing to hear the answer._

"_Leah, I'm so sorry. Like I said, I had no choice in the matter." He sounded very apologetic._

"_Who is she, Sam?" I was now angry; it had to be someone I knew._

"_It's Emily. Please don't be mad at her, Leah. She didn't have a choice either."_

"_I don't understand how my boyfriend and my cousin had no choice when they decided to get together. You had every choice, and you chose my cousin. Sam, I hate you, and I don't ever want to speak with you again!" I yelled at him as I threw the phone across the room, shattering it into several pieces._

_I soon found out that neither of them _did_ have a choice-that once you imprint, it's for life. It didn't matter if you had a girlfriend at the time; when you're a werewolf, you operate by wolf rules and by wolf timing._

A million thoughts were running through my mind. I had no idea how to even start this conversation. I was nervous about what his reaction would be and whether or not I'd be able to keep my cool. We were in a small space, not big enough if I needed to phase. Then suddenly, he grabbed my hand. He was just holding it between his two, gently rubbing it. I tried to pull my hand away, and he placed his top hand on my shoulder.

"Relax, Leah," his warm voice echoed in my ears, filling my head. I could physically feel myself calming down and relaxing.

"Whatever it is you're trying to explain to me, I'll understand, so please relax," he murmured to me.

"Nahuel, do you have a gift like Alice or Renesmee?" I curiously asked since the moment he touched my hand, I could feel myself relaxing more than I had in my entire life, and this wasn't a situation I should be relaxing in.

"Well, it's not exactly like either of theirs, but, yes, I do."

"Would you tell me what it is, please?"

"When I have direct contact with someone, I can make them calm and relaxed. I apologize for using it on you; I only did because you looked so tense." He released my hand and shoulder from his grip. I could feel the anxiety seeping back into my pores. I longed to have him touching me, just so I could not feel this worry.

"You're right, Nahuel. I _am_ tense. I'm trying to figure out how to explain to you what's happened. But there's no easy way, so I'll just come out with it. I've imprinted on you. Before you ask me what that means, it's basically, on a molecular level, we're connected, and I'll never be able to think of another as I do of you. I'll be yours forever," I said, hoping he would understand, so I wouldn't have to explain it any further.

"So the feelings I have towards you, those aren't my own feelings?" he asked, sounding very confused.

"I don't really know how to explain this to you, but we've imprinted, and with that, it means you'll have feelings for me, and that I have them for you," I answered, knowing I hadn't really explained anything to him.

"I don't know much about this thing you call imprinting, but I know that from the moment I saw you, I liked you. I wanted to get to know you better, and I hoped you felt the same way."

"Nahuel, I do have feelings for you, and that's what scares me. Even though we imprinted, it doesn't change some things. You're a vampire, and I'm a werewolf. You're venomous, which means you can still poison me. We're natural enemies, and if I'd seen you in that field we were in at a different time, I would have killed you," I said with a slight sadness in my voice.

Nahuel moved closer to me. I didn't feel that he was worried at all. He seemed totally relaxed about the situation. I didn't think he understood that we very easily could kill each other. He reached for my hand again, but this time, I pulled back.

"I understand you have worries, but you must know I would never hurt you, and I don't believe you would hurt me either," he conveyed with complete confidence.

"I'm worried because I've had a little time to think about some of these things while I was with Jacob, and because of your venom, there are a lot of things that make it so we can never be. We could never be together. Do you understand that? Physically, we could never be together. If we even kissed, the venom in your mouth would poison me. We can be friends, but nothing more. It'll be difficult because of the imprinting, but that's how it has to be." I made sure my voice didn't waver.

"Leah, if that's what you need, then friends it is. I do have feelings for you, and I'm not sure where they're going, but for the time being, and as long as you need it, we can just be friends." He looked down and sounding a little disappointed.

After a few moments, we went back downstairs, and Edward asked Nahuel to help him with something in the kitchen. With every step he took away from me, I could feel my heart strings pulling. I was totally gone, and I had no idea how to get back to reality. The way he made me feel relaxed and calm was a wonderful change, compared to the tense and pissed off feelings I was used to. How was I going to manage this? My feelings were way to strong, and I knew he had feelings for me. We had to stay apart; we could only be friends.

I couldn't help but think to myself about how helpless I felt. First, Sam, the only person I'd ever loved, imprinted on my cousin, and I was left alone. Second, the Cullens were near the reservation, and I was transformed into the only female werewolf. Third, now I had finally imprinted, and it was on a venomous half vampire. I felt like I had no say in my life. There was no next step for me to take; there was nowhere for me to go-destiny had been chosen for me. I was destined to live a long, lonely life, surrounded by guys that could never understand and a vampire that I could not be with. I knew I was about to lose it. I ran out the front door, phased, and started moving through the forest, running from my destiny.

Leave me some reviews please!


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own any of the characters; they all belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.

Thanks to my beta Cedward!

Thanks to Bforqueen for prereading!

I hope you like it! Review please!

Nahuel POV

I walked into the quiet kitchen with Edward, reluctantly leaving Leah; I heard the front screen door slam shut, and I could feel her moving farther away from me fast. I could also feel that she had shifted. When she changed into a wolf, I could feel the cells in my body shift, like my body was letting me know she had phased. I wasn't sure what Edward needed help with, but it better have been important because I needed to find Leah and figure out what happened.

"Edward, I'm sorry to rush you, but can you please tell me what you need help with? I need to find Leah and find out why she ran away so fast," I said, wishing he hadn't found us when we got downstairs.

"Nahuel, this is about Leah; we need to have a discussion. I think we need to have Jacob in here as well, but he still needs a few moments."

"I don't want to discuss Leah with you, and especially not with Jacob. What happens between Leah and me is no one else's business," I told him with a slight hint of anger in my voice.

"It's not just Jacob that will be here with us. Nessie's going to be in here as well for two reasons: one, she needs to keep Jacob calm; and two, Jacob imprinted on her and can give you a little insight on Leah's perspective of your situation."

I could tell that this whole situation was making Edward very nervous. Renesmee was his daughter, and she was very young; she shouldn't really be involved in this conversation. I walked over to Edward and placed my hand gently on his shoulder, and I could feel him instantly calm. Because of my gift, most of the time, I stayed calm no matter what the situation, but if I wanted it to calm anyone else, I had to be physically touching them.

"Edward, she doesn't need to be in here, and although Jacob gets angry with me stepping between him and Leah, she's not here. I think it'll be okay without having to involve Renesmee." I was trying to calm him even more.

"She insists on being in here. I don't like it, and we won't be discussing any of the physical aspects of the relationship around her," Edward established, making sure I knew the limitations of what could be discussed around his daughter.

"All right, Edward, but do you think everyone would be more comfortable if another woman was with us, say Bella, for example?"

Edward considered for a moment. While ushering me into the dining room, he replied with, "That's a very good idea, Nahuel. I'll talk with Bella and get Jake and Nessie. We'll meet you in here in five minutes."

This was the very last place I wanted to be and the very last conversation I wanted to have at the moment. Leah was out there somewhere, alone and sad. I wanted to go find her and tell her how I felt. I wanted to show her that we'd find a way to be more then friends; I wanted her to be happy. All of the difficulties she's had to put up with were unfair for her. She's the most magnificent woman I had ever met, and it pained me to know that she was so sad. We needed to figure out what we would have to do to have a relationship. I didn't need to have a conversation with these people without her, it pained me to stay in this room while she was out there alone.

I sat in one of the dining room chairs, listening to the discussion I could hear in the other room between Bella, Edward and Jacob. They were arguing about Renesmee joining the conversation we were about to have. Just then, Renesmee, the cutest little girl walk into the dining room and pull out one of the chairs and sit down next to me.

"Nahuel, we need to talk," Renesmee said as if she was a mother talking to her son. She was far advanced for her age, and even though she looked to be five years old, she had the presence of an old soul.

"I think we should wait for your parents and Jacob."

"No, they'll just confuse things; please listen to me. Leah has a tough exterior, but she's very fragile. I know she doesn't like vampires much, but I know she'd do anything to protect me, so I need to make sure that you understand what's going on with her. She's had her heart broken-no, shattered-and she won't be okay if you hurt her. She's imprinted on you, and that means that she physically needs to be near you. Jake imprinted on me, and it actually hurts him if I'm more than a few miles from him. She's probably in pain right now being this far away from you. I know that I'm young, but I know what imprinting can do to you, even if you aren't the wolf doing the imprinting. I know how you feel, and I know that it hurts you to be away from her too. Nahuel, I can tell by the images Leah showed me that she loves you very much. Nahuel, take care of Leah; she deserves it."

I didn't speak a word; I was in shock that this small child knew so much about imprinting and love. It was weird hearing her speak these words to me, but she had already lived through so much that it shouldn't have surprised me.

"Nahuel, I also wanted to thank you for saving my family's life by coming here in the first place. It was a huge sacrifice for you to make, and I haven't been able to properly thank you. You deserve some happiness Nahuel, so please figure out your relationship with Leah, so you can both be happy." Renesmee had more gratitude in her eyes then I'd ever seen in anyone's.

She truly was a brilliant little girl that was smart far beyond her time. I stood from my chair, and I walked over to her; I leaned down and gave her a hug. She touched my cheek, and I saw the way she saw me and Leah. We were running through the woods-she in wolf form and me following right behind her. Both of us were hunting and smiling, and I noticed my eyes were golden, like the Cullens'. It shocked me. I knew it meant she thought I was going to be sticking around for a while if I was going to switch my diet from human to animal permanently. My eyes were did not change to red if I ate human blood, but it was much darker when I did.

The images Renesmee showed me made me realize just how much I already felt for Leah. I already loved her. I hadn't think it was possible to fall in love with someone so fast, but I had already fallen, and I had fallen hard. She was the _amor de mi vida_-the love of my life. I knew I had to find her right now, and I had to tell her how I felt.

I heard a deep growl coming from the door, and I glanced over and saw Bella and Edward holding Jacob back from us.

"Jake, calm down; I was just showing him how Leah saw them together. Come here, I want to show you this as well, then maybe you'll understand," Renesmee spoke to him with a giddy smile.

All of the sudden, I got this horrible feeling in my soul; it felt like I was being ripped in two. Something was wrong with Leah. Without saying a word, I let go of Renesmee. I pushed past Jacob and ran from the dining room and out the front door. I had to find her; I had to find out what was happening to her.


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own any of the characters; they all belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.

Thanks to my beta Cedward!

Thanks to Bforqueen for prereading!

I hope you like it! Review and let me know what you're feeling about the story. Thanks!

Leah POV

I ran as fast as I could, trying to escape everything, trying to hide from my reality. Once I reached the river, I stopped; something felt off, but I could not figure out what. What was I supposed to do now? How was I supposed to move forward? I knew the feelings I had for Nahuel weren't going to go away, but I also knew that I couldn't act on my feelings. I had to shake this somehow. I wished Nahuel was here to touch me so that I could calm, but I couldn't let him touch me ever again.

I stepped into the river to cool off and take a drink. The water felt so cold on my paws; it chilled me to the bone, which was exactly what I needed. The cold water reminded me of the ache I had at Nahuel's cool hand calming me; that was not the reminder I needed though.

Suddenly, I felt a cold hand grab the back of my neck. This was a vampire, and one that I didn't recognize the scent of. My face was pushed into the freezing water, and I struggled to fight against the force holding me down. This vampire was very strong, which meant he was fairly young. I don't think he realized that I was a werewolf, and thought I would be an easy meal. I pushed backwards with my head, hitting him in the jaw and hearing the bone crack. The vampire went flying to the other side of the river. I jumped up and into my fighting stance. I'd never taken a vampire by myself before, but there was no time to wait for the pack; I had to do this alone.

The vampire charged me, and I tried to remember the training Jasper had given us about newborns, but this one was very strong. Before I knew it, I was again being held under water, and I was losing consciousness; then I phased into my human form, and everything went black.

Nahuel POV

I ran as fast as I could, following her scent. I reached the river, and the scent went dead. I looked to my left and saw a vampire in the water, holding something under, and I realized what was happening: he was holding Leah under. I jumped on the vampire, startling it, and ripped the head off. I threw it out of the water and pushed the body off of Leah. I pulled her face out of the water, trying to keep her above the surface. She wasn't breathing. I got her out of the water and carried her to shore.

There was nothing I could do but watch her fade away. This couldn't happen; I needed her. I could feel our bond slipping, and I needed to make a choice. How was I going to save her? I knew she needed mouth to mouth, but I didn't think she had enough time for me to get her back to the Cullens'. I leaned in and put my mouth gently to hers, checking to see what damage my venom caused her. To my surprise, nothing seemed to happen. With most werewolves, vampire saliva alone is enough to cause horrible pain to the werewolf, but nothing seemed to be happening to Leah. I immediately went into action, giving her mouth to mouth and trying to resuscitate her. After a few moments, I could see the beautiful color come back to her. I was worried that my venom might have an aftereffect, though, so I picked her up and carried her quickly back to the Cullens' for Carlisle to look at her.

As I reached the front of the house, Jacob came rushing out the front door, infuriated.

"What did you do to her?" he screamed at me.

"I didn't do anything to her, but I did have to give her mouth to mouth, and I'm not sure what it might have done to her," I said, holding her to my chest, now realizing that she didn't have on any clothes.

"Give her to me." Jacob tried to grab Leah out of my arms.

"No! I won't leave her; I won't let you take her from me," I pleaded, backing away from Jacob.

"Nahuel, you don't have to give her to Jake; just please bring her inside so Carlisle can look at her," Bella said, slowly walking down the stairs of the porch. "Jake, take off your shirt and cover her with it; she wouldn't want everyone to see her like that." Bella reached for the shirt she was asking for. She handed it to me, and I covered Leah with it as much as possible. I followed Bella into the house, walking past Jacob, who was steaming he was so angry with me.

Carlisle ushered us upstairs and had me place Leah on a medical bed, which I can only imagine was there from when Bella was pregnant with Renesmee. I immediately covered her with the sheet on the bed, not wanting even Carlisle to see her like that. She was breathing, but barely. Carlisle immediately went into doctor mode, asking me what happened. I told him that I found her being attacked by a newborn vampire and that she was being drowned. I told him I gave her mouth to mouth, because I had no other options, but that she didn't seem to have any side effects from my venom. He thanked me for telling him and ushered us all out of the room. I didn't want to leave, but I knew that I needed to have a conversation with Jacob.

"I'll leave, Carlisle, but if anything changes, I want to be the first to know."

"I'll get you with any changes, Nahuel. You have my word. Now please tell one of my children where you left the newborn so they can take care of the body," Carlisle said, closing the door with me on the other side.

I stood there staring at the door for a moment, and then I walked down the stairs slower than I have ever moved. My life was in that room, and she was suffering again. I wasn't going to let her suffer anymore, and the only way I knew how to help was to settle things with Jacob, so that when she woke up-and she _was_ going to wake up-she'd have one less worry. I walked into the living room, and Jacob was pacing back and forth, waiting for me.

"Jacob, can I please talk to you outside for a moment?" I not so calmly asked him, which was weird because up until the moment I saw Leah hurt, I'd _always_ been calm, but after seeing her suffer, I could no longer stay calm about this situation.

"Outside is a great place for this conversation to take place." Jacob headed towards the front door.

I followed him outside and shut the door behind me, letting everyone else in the house know that we needed to do this alone.


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own any of the characters; I only play with them. No copyright infringement intended.

Thanks to my beta Cedward!

Thanks to Bforqueen for prereading!

I hope you like it! Review and let me know what you're feeling about the story. Thanks!

Nahuel POV

"Jacob, you have to lay off Leah," I demanded, getting straight to the point and staring him down.

"Listen here. You need to stop getting in the middle what I tell her to do. I know you don't understand the pack dynamic, but you need to learn it if you're going to be around, and from what Nessie showed me, Leah wants you around," Jacob said, seeming to calm down a bit.

"I'm surprised you let Renesmee show you that."

"Okay, I guess I need to do this. Ugh. I hate apologizing. I guess I've been too hard on you. You're new around here, and I know that you feel strongly for Leah; I can sense it, but you have to understand-Leah is impulsive, and I worry about her. I'm not exactly sure what happened in the woods, but I know you saved her. So we need to come to some sort of truce. If you're going to stick around, we're going to have to deal with each other."

"Did Renesmee tell you to apologize to me?" I asked him jokingly.

"Yeah, but it needed to be done," he laughed.

"I thought you wanted to come outside to fight this out, but I'm glad that we can talk about it. I'm concerned about Leah as well. I gave her mouth to mouth, and I know some of my venom has made its way in her system, yet she doesn't seem to have any effects from it. She was being held underwater, which is why she's unconscious. I think we need to talk to Carlisle about it. Has he helped any of you wolves before?"

"Yeah, I got badly injured fighting some vamps, and Carlisle fixed me up. Leah is in the best hands with him."

"Jacob, I'm so worried I might have hurt her with my venom. If I hurt her worse than she already was, I don't know what I'd do with myself," I worried.

"Nahuel, from what I can tell, you saved her. If she's unconscious still, she must have been held under for a while. Leah's a strong girl. She'll pull through this. I'm curious about one thing though; you said that you're venomous, right?"

"Yes, I have seen my venom work; my venom is just like any other vampire's." I hung my head, thinking about how toxic I was to Leah. As long as she made it through this, I'd do everything in my power to make sure she never got hurt again.

"Well, it doesn't seem like you were toxic to Leah. Can we try something?" He asked with a playful grin on his face.

"Whatever you're thinking, Jacob, it's probably not a good idea."

"Oh, it's definitely not a good idea, but don't you want to know if you could ever hurt Leah with your venom? Get some of your venom on me. Don't bite me or anything, just spit on me or something, and let's see what happens. That wouldn't be enough venom to kill me since I'm healthy, but we should be able to tell if it bothers me."

He was totally serious. He wanted me to purposely poison him.

"Is this some sort of trick, Jacob? Are you trying to make me hurt you, so everyone will be as angry with me as you are?"

"What? No, I'm serious. We need to do it while Carlisle is around, just in case something does happen. But maybe you aren't venomous to wolves because you're a half breed."

"It's an intriguing idea, but Leah would hate me if I hurt you." Evan as I spoke the words I knew this had to be done.

"I don't think you're going to hurt me, and the big doctor will be with us, so it's all good." He started walking back into the house.

"Jacob, wait. We're okay, right?"

"Sure, sure." He headed up the stairs and into the house.

We didn't say a word to each other or to anyone else. We went straight upstairs and reached the room Carlisle was in with Leah. Jacob very slowly opened the door and waved to Carlisle to come out in the hallway.

"She's not awake yet, guys, but I've run some tests, and I think I know a few things," Carlisle said, looking at both of us.

"Please tell me she's going to be okay." I rushed in a one-word sound.

"I think she'll be okay. I sedated her, so I could run the tests; she should be waking up very soon. The tests I ran were to find out if she had any vampire venom in her system, and I couldn't find any."

"But how's that possible?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, Nahuel, which is why I'm running more tests."

"Well, I have a theory. I think his venom won't harm us. That's why we came up here, Carlisle. I want to get some of Nahuel's venom on me and see if I have a reaction," Jacob spoke with arrogance in his tone, like he'd thought of something no one else had.

Carlisle paced back and forth for a few moments, deciding what to do. If we did this, I could really harm Jacob, and we all knew that.

"I'll monitor this experiment if you like, but you must both choose to participate."

"I'm in; I'm not scared of a little vamp juice." Jacob laughed and sat down in a chair.

"If you think this might help Leah, I'll do it."

"Okay, boys. Jacob, stay sitting no matter what, okay?" Carlisle walked over to the shelf and took out a long q-tip.

He walked towards me with the q-tip in hand. "Open your mouth please, Nahuel."

"Wait, you mean I don't get to spit on him?" I laughed and then opened my mouth for Carlisle.

"You really are perfect for Leah." Jacob rolled his eyes.

Carlisle stuck the q-tip in my mouth and swirled it around on my cheek. He then walked over to Jacob and pulled the shirt sleeve up on Jacob's left arm.

"Are you sure, Jacob? Once I do this, there's no going back, and I don't know how much damage this may cause you," Carlisle questioned him with a worried look on his face.

"I'm not scared of a little vamp venom. Hit me with it, doc."

Leah POV

It was pure blackness with zero sound. I could remember being held underwater, hearing splashing around me. I could remember the ice cold water that felt like needles on my skin. Suddenly, I remembered the marble hand that was holding me down… then nothingness. I realized that my eyes were closed, and it was like an anchor was holding them down. Using all the force inside me, I managed to open them only to be surrounded by pure whiteness. I was so confused. Had I died?

I looked down and noticed that I was wearing my La Push Athletics shirt and a pair of cut-off shorts. When did I get dressed? I phased in the middle of the woods, and I hadn't remembered to hide any clothes. I hadn't worn this shirt in quite a while. I blinked, and suddenly, I was back in the woods, but at a different location. I recognized it immediately. My father used to take Seth and me out here all the time to be one with nature.

I must have died.

I was suddenly scared. I was scared to be leaving Seth, my mom, the pack, and Nahuel.

"Oh, no, if that vampire killed me, he'll probably get rid of my body. Nahuel will think I left him without saying good bye," I cried out loud, only talking to myself and starting to feel tears fall a little.

"Don't cry, my child."

I turned around to the voice I'd recognize anywhere. My father was standing before me, looking as he always had. I knew I must be dead.

"You're not dead, Leah, but it'll be up to you where you go from here," he spoke to me with worry in his eyes.

"I don't understand, Dad."

"Come sit with me." He walked over to a fallen tree and took a seat.

I slowly walked over to him and sat down. It was surreal seeing my father. It had only been a short time since he'd been taken from us, but so much had changed. I knew as a tribal leader he would have known about the pack, but would he know that Seth and I had both phased? I had so many questions to ask him. Mostly, I wanted to know what happened.

"Dad, where am I?"

"You're in the woods. Don't you recognize this place? It hasn't been that long," he laughed.

"I recognize this place, but I guess what I really want to know is, am I dead?" I said, trying to read his expression.

"You're not dead. At this moment, your body is unconscious, but it's healing fast, so we don't have much time together."

"Do you know exactly what happened to me?"

"That's not my story to tell you." He lowered his head and broke our eye contact.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, trying to understand his sudden change in mood.

"We were wrong."

"Who was wrong?"

"Our tribe is wrong. There're decent vampires out there-not many, but there are some. Leah, I know about you and Nahuel. I know that you've phased, and I know that you've imprinted on him. You need to trust your instincts."

I couldn't speak. The very last conversation I thought I'd be having today was about me and Nahuel with my dad. I wanted to keep talking to him, though, and I wanted to stay here. I missed him so much. I'd always been a daddy's girl, and when he died, my whole world literally changed.

"Dad, I just… I mean, I don't…" I stuttered, unsure what to say to him first.

"We don't have to talk about that. Just know that I approve, and I know how hard it might be for you to get through this, but you will. How's Seth?" He asked, and I was thankful he changed the subject.

"You'd be so proud of him. He's growing into a wonderful young man; just don't let anyone know I said that," I laughed.

"I _am_ proud of him, and you, Leah. Both of you are wonderful. Your mother is doing such a great job taking care of you and helping the tribe." He made eye contact again and showed me how proud he truly was by the smile on his face.

"She's stepped up a lot with the counsel. It's nice having a woman so high up, at least in my opinion." I was proud of my mother for the progress she had made.

"Leah, I don't think you realize how much you'll change the tribe by phasing. The women in our tribe will have a lot more say now that they know there's a chance one of the girls can phase. You need to be a good role model because there might be more girls joining you in the future; only time will tell."

"I don't know about the role model part. I don't think anyone should want to be like me," I sighed, feeling slightly lonely again.

"You're not alone, Leah," he replied like he was reading my mind.

"You can talk to your brother, I know he may be young, but he was the first one in our tribe to accept the Cullens. Jake'll come around; I promise you that. And now you have Nahuel. I think that boy would have fallen for you without the imprinting," he smiled at me.

"Imprinting is the problem, though, Dad. Because of the imprinting, I have so many feelings for him, feelings I haven't had since Sam, but he's venomous, so there's no future for us. I feel alone, Dad, and I don't know what to do." I hadn't realized I was leaning in and crying on his shoulder, like I used to when I was a kid. He pulled me close to him and wiped away my tears. He'd always been such a big teddy bear when it came to me.

"Shh, Leah, it'll be okay. You need to let people start helping you, so you don't feel so alone. So many people love you and would help you in any way. Keep your mind open with Nahuel; you never know what might happen. You're a special person, and the spirit gods have plans for you, so you need to go back now."

"No, Dad, I want to stay here. I want to stay with you," I sobbed.

"Leah, stop crying. You need to go back; you can't stay here forever, and you have things you need to do. Just remember I love you, and you'll be okay." He stood letting me know our time had come to an end.

"Please don't leave me here alone, Dad."

"Remember what I told you. You're never alone; let people help you."

"I'll try," I said, wiping my eyes and trying to see through the blur of my tears, but it was becoming very difficult to see him.

"Tell Seth I'm proud of him, and tell Charlie to keep taking care of your mom. He' is doing a great job."

"Dad, please don't go!" I yelled to him because I could no longer see through the blur at all.

I suddenly heard a loud beeping noise and started feeling a horrible pain in my neck. I blinked rapidly, trying to see, but every time I did, my eyelids became heavier. Then it was blackness again. I could hear the beeping, but I could also hear familiar people talking. Was I going crazy? No, I remembered what my dad had said; my body was unconscious. I wasn't sure how, but I hadn't died. I tried opening my eyes again, and I saw a bright light, so I closed them again and just lay there with my eyes closed.

Nahuel POV

The next few minutes seemed to happen in the slowest time possible, but also the fastest.

Carlisle slowly pressed the q-tip with my saliva onto Jacob's bare skin, and instantly, his skin started forming what looked like ice crystals in the spot where the q-tip touched him. I could see the pain start to form from the look on his eyes.

"Doc, it's burning! Can you please wipe it off?" His voice got louder, and the pitch got squeakier with each syllable.

"Wipe it off now, Carlisle!" Jacob started screaming.

Carlisle took some paper towels and wiped the spot where the venom laid for several seconds. The venom wasn't coming off; it just sat there like crystallized skin, quickly turning the spot on Jacob's arm to ash.

"It's burning, Carlisle; you have to get it off _now_!"

"Jacob, I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do. You're going to have to wait for your body to push the venom out and heal itself," Carlisle replied, very apologetically.

Jacob started writhing in pain; he was holding his arm so tightly to his chest he probably could have ripped it off. This tiny spot, less than an inch by an inch was causing him so much pain there was no way I could ever touch Leah again. I quickly backed into the corner, afraid to get near her and cause her harm. Somehow, it hadn't affected her before, but what if it did now? I couldn't handle putting her through any pain.

Suddenly, I looked over, and Leah was moving in the bed. Her eyes were fluttering. She opened her eyes and saw Jacob writhing in pain, and she saw Carlisle trying to wipe the venom off of his arm again. She sat up quickly.

"Stop! What are you doing to him? Stop hurting him," she screamed at Carlisle.

"He has venom on him, Leah, and it's causing him a lot of pain," Carlisle responded to her.

"How did he get venom on him?" She immediately looked at me. "Did you two get in a fight? What happened? Why would he have venom on him? Did you bite him?" she accused me.

She immediately jumped to conclusions. She thought I'd attacked him. I was extremely sad about that because if she thought I'd attacked Jacob, what did that mean she really thought about me? How could she think I could do that?

It was Jacob who spoke up first.

"He didn't attack me, Leah; don't jump to conclusions. It was my idea."

"Your idea?" She looked very confused.

"Yes, it was my idea. Do you know what happened to you out in the woods?" Jacob tried to look like he wasn't in pain.

"No, I don't, and I don't want to talk about it," Leah responded while she hung her head.

"Well, we need to talk about it, Leah. Tell her what happened, Nahuel."

"I found you in the woods by the lake, being held underwater by a newborn. By the time I reached you and got the vampire off of you, you'd stopped breathing. I had to give you mouth to mouth. I had to breathe for you; my venom got in your system," I explained shamefully.

"Leah, he's venomous, at least to me, but you show no signs of his venom even being in you, I don't think he is venomous to you," Jacob said.

What was I supposed to say? I had no idea how to react to this. The thought that I might somehow not be venomous to Leah was wonderful, but I could see how much pain Jacob was going through. I wasn't going to test her. There was no way I was going to allow that to happen.

For several seconds, it was silent except for the beeping of the machine hooked up to Leah.

She suddenly started getting off the bed and tugged at the IV in her arm, pulling it out. She jumped off the bed, knocking it into the wall.

"Put some of the venom on me," she told Carlisle.

"Leah, I don't think that's a good idea at the moment. You've been through a lot, and I don't know that you body can take much more right now," Carlisle said to her.

"My body is fully healed, Carlisle. Please do this. I need to know."

"No! I won't let you use my venom, not to cause you any more pain," I exclaimed, hoping it would make her change her mind.

"Nahuel, don't you see that I'm in pain now? If I don't do this, if I spend every day not near you because I'm afraid to get some of your venom on me, do you know what that would do to me? Please do this; it might help solve some things."

She left Carlisle and walked over to my side.

"Please," she whispered to me.

Then she placed the gentlest kiss on my cheek with her warm lips. With that one kiss, she melted my heart.

"I want it to be your venom, but I'll find someone in this house that will let me use theirs if you don't agree."

"Fine." I knew I wasn't going to win.

"But sit down on the bed. If something happens, I want Carlisle to be able to help you."

We both walked over to the bed. She sat down and leaned back. Carlisle took out another long q-tip. Leah grabbed my hand and held it between us. Carlisle reached over and stuck the q-tip in my mouth, gathering some of my saliva on the tip. He gently grabbed her other arm and wiped the q-tip on her beautiful skin.

Nothing happened. No instant ice crystals like with Jacob. Nothing.

"Are you okay? Does it hurt?" I asked her.

"I don't feel anything. I can feel that my arm is wet, but it just feels like someone spit on me."

She looked over at Jacob. He looked over at Carlisle.

"Leah, I ran some tests today while you were still knocked out," Carlisle said.

"What kind of tests?"

"Blood tests. I tested yours against some of the blood that I'd kept from when Jacob was injured."

"And?" Leah asked Carlisle, acting like she really didn't want to hear the answer.

"Your blood is slightly different than Jacob's."

"What do you mean different?" She sounded very worried.

"I'm not sure why, but I think because you're female, your DNA is different. The easiest way to describe it is that your DNA is more closely linked to Alice's than Jacob's. Again, I'm not sure why, and I have no one else to test you against because you're the only female wolf. But I don't think Nahuel's venom will harm you any more then it would any other vampire. Now, I don't think you can create venom, and I don't think you're a vampire; you're still a shifter. It's just, well, there are some differences between you and the guys," Carlisle revealed, breaking eye contact with Leah and looking at the floor.

"What kind of differences?"

"Like the male pack members will still reproduce; I think you're more like the females of my species. I don't think you can reproduce; your body is at a standstill."

"Are you telling me I can't have children?" Leah was dumbfounded.

"I'm sorry. At least not until you're done shifting, and by the time you're old enough to control that, it'll be too late. But I think if you chose it, you could be with Nahuel. I don't think his venom will harm you, and I don't think you can harm him."

"So you're telling me I can be with someone I want to be with, but that I'll never have children?" She glanced at me.

She had the greatest sadness in her eyes that I had ever seen. She was going through more pain than Jacob was, and he was going through a lot. I wanted to hold her and comfort her, but I settled for just holding her hand.

She let go of my hand and got out of the bed.

"I have to get out of here." Her voice was barely audible.

"Leah, wait." I moved quickly around the bed and to her side.

"I need to get out of here; I need to run."

"Let me go with you," I pleaded with her.

"No, I need to think."

Just like that, she was gone. I started to go after her, and Jacob grabbed me.

"Let her go; she will come back. Leah is a tough girl, but she's had it hard. This is going to hurt her badly. The two of you may be able to be together, but if she can't have kids, she'll be more of an outcast on the Rez than she is now. She's going to be lonely, unless you're there for her, Nahuel, so you're going to have to be there for her."

"I will be, and I'm going to go find her," I said, breaking out of Jacob's hold.

I ran through the forest as fast as I could, trailing her scent, before she did something stupid, or before another newborn vampire found her again. Where would she be? How could I find her?


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own any of the characters; they all belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.

Thanks to my beta Cedward!

Thanks to Bforqueen for prereading!

I hope you like it!

Leah POV

I ran as fast as I could to get away. I phased as soon as I could and took off as fast as my four paws would take me. I thought to myself, _how many times am I going to take a hit like this? Why do I have to be so different? Why must I be the one that has to make sacrifices? _I stopped mid–stride, thinking about the conversation I had with my father while I was unconscious. He said I needed to be a role model. If any other girl in the tribe phased, they also wouldn't be able to have children. I wouldn't be the only one. I needed to stop pitying myself. I needed to stop running from Nahuel. I needed to stop running from my destiny, and I thought I was finally ready for that.

I paced along the forest. I was farther than I'd ever been; I was probably in Canada at this point. I now felt horribly guilt for running from Nahuel. He'd seemed so worried about me. How was I going to explain to him that I wasn't running from him but from myself? If he stayed with me, he would never have children. Which, since he was a half breed, I wasn't even sure he could, but shouldn't he be given the chance?

I suddenly heard someone approaching and instantly recognized the beautiful scent of the rainforest. My heart started to race, knowing he was so close. I approached him in wolf form because I had no clothes nearby. He wouldn't be able to understand me, but I'd be able to hear him.

"Leah, we need to talk," he pleaded.

I wanted to respond to him, I wanted to tell him what I had realized, but I couldn't because I was in wolf form. I hated that he saw me like this.

He walked closer to me and extended his beautiful hand to touch me. I didn't move. He humanely grabbed me by the muzzle and leaned in closer. He placed a soft, gentle kiss on the top of my nose, just like an owner would do to one of their pets. I pulled backed and shook my head; I hated that he saw me in wolf form, and I hated even more that I couldn't phase because I had no clothes nearby. I hoped he wouldn't get the wrong impression about me shaking my head after he kissed me. I loved that he felt comfortable enough around me in wolf form to come that close to me, even though I didn't want him to see me like this.

We did need to talk. We needed to talk about everything that had happened… what this meant for us.

"Leah, please don't run from me. I'm not sure why you won't phase back, but please at least listen to me," Nahuel begged.

I nodded my head so he would know that I was listening. I backed up a few feet and sat down.

"I'm sorry that I just kissed you like that. I'm not sure what came over me," he said, blushing.

I loved the color of his cheeks when he blushed. But he did get the wrong impression when I shook my head. I didn't want him to think I didn't want him to kiss me; I just hated him seeing me as a wolf. He needed to be with a girl that didn't phase into an animal. He needed to be with a girl that could eventually give him children, or, at least, and I couldn't believe I was even thinking it, but he should be with another vampire like him.

"Leah, when I gave you mouth to mouth, some of my venom got in your system. It should have hurt, or even worse, killed you. I wish there had been another way, but if I didn't try, you would have died regardless. I know it was a huge risk to take, but I couldn't lose you. Do you understand?" He paced back and forth.

I didn't move my head this time; I just stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I love you, Leah. Imprint or not, I love you. I don't know exactly how this will work, but I think we should try. We need to try. You have feelings for me; at least, I think you do. I know that it's taking everything in me to stay away from you. All I want is some sort of contact from you. You're the most beautiful creature I've ever seen; even in wolf form, you're glorious." He walked forward and stared right through my eyes into my soul.

I wanted him to know how much I felt for him to; I wanted him to know that I had the same feelings, but I had no way to communicate these feelings while I was in this form. How was I supposed to tell him that I loved him too?

"Leah, please say something, do something, to tell me what you're thinking."

One thing came to mind; I leaned forward and rubbed my muzzle against his hand, and then I took off running. I wasn't running away this time, though; I ran to a tree I remembered seeing Jake's shorts by and phased. I quickly put on the shorts that were way to big for me. Man, Jake needed to go on a diet because these shorts were falling off of me.

As soon as I knew I was in eyesight of Nahuel, I placed one of my arms over my bare chest, trying to cover myself. My other hand was holding up the way-too-big shorts.

I looked directly at him and could see hurt in his eyes-hurt because I ran when he asked me how I felt, not only now, but when I took off after finding out about the venom not hurting me. I didn't want him to hurt; that was never my intent.

"Nahuel, I'm so sorry that I just ran away when you tried to get me to show you how I felt; this time I honestly only left to get something to put on when I phased back. We can have this discussion now," I said, hoping that he'd understand how much I really meant it, how much I wanted him to know how I felt at this moment.

"Leah, Carlisle's pretty sure that my venom won't harm you in any way. I know that I'm still a vampire, and that everything in you still wants to kill me, but I think you imprinted on me for a reason. I also think-"

"Nahuel, stop. Let me speak for a moment; I need you to understand something. I know your venom isn't poisonous to me. I don't know why, but I don't really care either. I do have feelings for you. I also want you to know that I don't want to kill you, and the feeling of wanting to kill you left the moment I imprinted on you-vampire or not makes no difference." I paused for a moment, trying to think of the correct words to apologize to him with.

"I'm truly sorry I ran after I woke up, but you have to understand something. My kind is created to kill your kind, and your venom is supposed to be poisonous to us. Since I became part of the pack, I've always been an outsider. I'm the only female, I'm Sam's ex, and then I imprinted on a venomous vampire. I've been alone in this journey the entire time, and then you came along and refused to let me be alone. Finding out that you don't poison me shocked the hell out of me, but in a good way. I'm glad your venom doesn't hurt me. I'm glad that we can try this. I want to try this. But I don't think it'll be fair for you." I tried to read his stoic expression.

"Why would us being together be unfair for me?"

"Nahuel, if you chose to stay with me, you'd never have the chance to have children," I explained, ashamed of the pain that might cause him.

"Leah, you silly girl; do you realize how old I am? If I'd wanted to have children, I would have already done so. I have no desire to bring a child into this world, not knowing what part of me they would get. I have seen the pain a child that's born part vampire can cause. I wouldn't want to do that to any female."

He took three steps closer to me, and I suddenly realized that I still didn't have a shirt on. I felt totally naked and vulnerable standing in front of him. He finally stepped in front of me, so that he was only inches away. The look in his eye was total lust.

"Leah, can we try something?" he asked me as he gently pushed the hair that had fallen over my face behind my ear. He leaned towards me and placed a soft, cool kiss on my lips. I melted the moment our lips touched. He stepped back, and I instantly felt my whole life change in that moment. He smiled at me.

"Did you feel anything?" he asked me, and I realized he was talking about the venom, but that wasn't what I felt.

"Oh, I felt something!" I lunged back toward him, not realizing I'd dropped my hand from my chest. I wrapped my arms around his neck and placed a hungry kiss on him. He wrapped both of his arms around my lower back and pressed me closer to him. We felt perfect together, like we were made to be together.

As we stepped apart, I forgot that I didn't have a shirt on. Nahuel looked at me, smiled, and started taking his shirt off.

"If you'd like, wear my shirt."

"Thank you," I said, blushing and taking the shirt from him.

"I wouldn't want anyone to get a show when we return to the Cullen's," he laughed and winked at me.

This wonderful man grabbed my hand, and we walked together through the woods back to the house. It took us almost two hours walking at our "close to human" pace, and we barely spoke the whole time. We didn't need to speak; we knew that we were going to have a chance.

As the Cullen house came into view, we saw several people sitting on the porch. They must have heard us coming and wanted to know what happened. They saw us walking hand in hand, and I saw some of them smile.

"Looks like our two love birds got them some! Congrats," Emmett chuckled at us when he noticed I was wearing Nahuel's shirt.

I felt Nahuel squeeze my hand.

"**Tu eres mi alma gemela," he leaned in and whispered in my ear.**

**"That's beautiful. What does it mean?" I curiously asked him.**

"You're my soul mate."

We had only just met, but we both felt so strongly for each other.

"Go get a room!" I heard yelled from the porch.

"Please don't hurt Emmett, Leah," he laughed, squeezing my hand again and laughing.

He already knew me so well.


	8. Chapter 8

I don't own any of the characters; I'm just glad I can write part of their story.

I have to thank my beta Cedward and my pre-readers Bforqueen and SarahBella.

Leah POV

The next several days went by so quickly, and I spent every waking moment at the Cullens' place. I wanted to be as close to Nahuel as possible all the time. He was miraculous. He was beautiful and sweet and a wonderful kisser, but every time we had a moment alone, something or someone interrupted us. We still needed to talk about a lot of different things, but the way things were going, we'd never have the chance.

I needed a break. I needed to get away so badly. Things had settled down with the Volturi, and since every vampire in the area knew the Cullens were there, and they weren't going anywhere, it was very quiet. The pack didn't have much to do, so they spent most of their time picking on me and Nahuel. Emmett joined in with their jokes most of the time, so there was nowhere we could hide.

I was sitting on the porch late one afternoon when I overheard a conversation taking place inside between Edward and Nahuel.

"Nahuel, can I speak with you for a moment?"Edward must've known Nahuel's answer before he spoke it, but he waited for a reply anyway.

"Sure, Edward." Nahuel always spoke with such sincerity.

"Bella noticed Leah's been a little frustrated lately, and from her thoughts, I have to agree with her."

"Frustrated? Do you know why she's frustrated? I've noticed she seems upset,"Nahuel said, seeming confused.

"Bella and I think it's because you both need a little time alone."

It was obvious to me that Edward could hear what I was thinking about while I was sitting alone on the porch.

"Alone? But I don't want to be away from her; I don't want to be alone,"Nahuel declared.

"No, Nahuel, I think you've misunderstood what I'm saying. I think the two of you need a little time away from all of us together,"Edward explained, trying to not laugh. I was sure he was amused because Nahuel seemed to have very little experience with women.

That actually made me giggle a little as well.

"Oh, I think I understand, but where could we spend some time alone? I'm a guest here, and I already feel like I'm imposing by staying here. I couldn't ask anyone to leave, and I don't know anywhere else to take her"Nahuel suddenly sounded a little panicked.

"I have an idea. Why don't you take her on a date? You could drive up to Port Angeles and see a movie or something, and I know you're worried about getting there, so why don't you suggest to Leah that she drive my car?"

"Thank you, Edward. I know that Leah and I need to talk, and this'll be a great opportunity."Nahuel thanked Edward as he patted him on the back and started heading my direction.

I suddenly got nervous, realizing that Nahuel and I might get some actual time alone, but what would that be like?

Nahuel opened the front door and quietly stepped out on the porch. He didn't realize I could hear the entire conversation he'd just had, and I was curious on how he was going to ask me to go with him.

"Leah, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure, Nahuel, what's up?" I answered, already knowing what he wanted to talk about and slightly anxious inside.

"Apparently we aren't spending enough time alone, and... umm... I'm not sure how we could here. Edward has been kind enough to let us borrow his car and take it to Port Angeles tonight if you'd like to go. I'm not sure what we'll do there. He... umm... mentioned something about a movie or... umm... maybe doing something else. We can do whatever you like. If you'd like to, I mean. We don't have to if you…"

"Nahuel, please stop. I'd love to go on a date with you, and tonight is great. I'll meet you back here tonight, and then we can go," I spit out, cutting off his nervous rambling.

I stood up from the steps I was sitting on and wrapped my arms around him because I already missed him since we'd spent the night apart.

"Thank you for asking me out, Nahuel," I whispered into his ear.

"Oh, my God, please tell me you're going to let me get you ready for tonight!" We heard Alice say giddily from the porch door. My ultimate nightmare was about to happen.

"Alice, it's not a big thing. We're just going for a drive to get away for a little while; I don't need to get dressed up. It's really just going to be us hanging out," I sighed and immediately noticed Nahuel had become very quiet. I realized he was excited about our date, and to him, this was more than just the two of us going for a drive.

"Okay, Alice, I'll let you dress me up like a doll," I relented, and she hugged me and ran back into the house preparing for my ultimate torture.

I said goodbye to Nahuel as Edward walked up to him and told him he would lend him anything he needed to get ready for our date.

I walked into the Cullen house and saw Alice staring down at me from upstairs. She looked like a lion that had just seen the gazelle it was going to make its prey. It was one of the most ferocious looks I had ever seen, and I hung out with werewolves.

"Alice, stop looking at me like I'm your next meal, please," I told her, realizing this was going to be a long afternoon.

"I'm just wondering what's taking you so long to get up here. I have plenty of work to do on you, wolf girl."

I walked as slow as I could up to my torture chamber: her bathroom. She'd already lined out several products of so many varieties. They were all designer brands that, all together, probably cost more than my house. I started regretting that I was going to allow her to help me get ready, but I knew this was important to Nahuel.

"Now, get in the shower and make sure you use the strong smelling stuff. No offense, but you smell like dog, and I won't be able to do my best with that scent surrounding me. I'll get some outfits ready while you're showering." She shut me in the bathroom and pranced off to get ready to play dress up with me.

I looked around and realized just how large this bathroom was; it was probably bigger than my bedroom. That was the first thing I noticed; the second was that when I opened the shower curtain, I saw the most inviting shower I'd ever seen. The shower at my house on the Rez was normal and had low water pressure. I could tell just by looking at this one that it was going to be the best shower I'd ever taken, and I needed it.

I walked over to the door and locked it. I didn't need one of the Cullens or Jake walking in on me while I was in the shower. I, of course, would hear them before they even got the door open, but I guess it was just for added security. I took my time admiring the bathroom, slowly making my way over to the shower and turning it on so it would be nice and warm for me when I was ready to get in. I stood in front of the antique mirror they had above the sink that was beautifully carved out of marble. It reminded me of Nahuel and his skin; although he wasn't as pale as the Cullens, his skin was marble just like theirs.

I started to undress and take in my appearance in the mirror. I hadn't really done this since the first time I phased. I hadn't had the time or the desire to see my body. I noticed new lines had formed on my stomach and arms, not from fat, but muscle definition. I still had my curves that I'd always loved, but it was more like I was sculpted now. This should have made me happy, but all I could think of was that the only other person that had seen me this naked was Sam. Things with him had ended so badly, and I couldn't go through all of that with Nahuel. It would kill me. I started to question if he'd like to even see me like this. Would we ever be able to be really together?

I finally tried to stop my mind from racing, which wasn't an easy task. I stepped into the glorious shower, and my mind stopped. I didn't think about anything at all. This was the peace that I needed. I had no idea how long I was in there until I heard Alice knocking on the door and telling me that if I wanted to be presentable for tonight to hurry my butt up. I stepped out of the shower and dried off. I noticed that there was a cute set of lounge clothes waiting for me when I glanced towards the door. I really hoped that I'd missed them when I came in and not that Alice had made it past the lock.

I opened the door, and Alice was waiting for me. She pulled me into a bedroom that had three outfits laid out on the bed.

"Now I know that you are more of a tomboy, but I think you should really dress up for tonight. It's your first date with Nahuel, and first dates are very important," she explained as she fluttered around the room, laying more stuff out on the bed in addition to what was already there.

"Alice, you do know I wasn't always a tomboy, right? When Sam and I started dating, I dressed up all the time, not in anything this fancy, but I can wear a pair of heels."

I turned, and she was staring at me. I began to laugh.

"Remember, I wasn't always a werewolf. At one point, I was a teenage girl, even though that seems like a lifetime ago." I mumbled the last part.

"Well, don't worry; Nahuel will love what you wear, and if you choose that one in the middle, I don't think he'll be able to keep his hands off of you," she giggled.

Did I want Nahuel's hands all over me? Yes, I did. However, I wasn't sure that we were at that point yet. We needed to talk about everything that had happened. Yes, tonight was a date, but we didn't need to act like horny teenagers, even though I was pretty much feeling like one anytime he was around.

"What if I need to phase? Those are all dresses; I won't have anything to change into."

"I already put a pair of shorts and a tank top in Edward's car for you," Alice stated, having an answer for everything.

"I'll wear the one on the left, as long as it fits okay."

"It'll fit. I'm very good at guessing people's sizes; it's sort of a gift I have. Here, wear these with it; these shoes go excellent with the dress," Alice responded, handing me a pair of Prada shoes.

"Thank you, Alice. I know I'm not your ideal Barbie doll contestant, but it means a lot to me that you'd help me," I said to her as I took the shoes from her and grabbed the dress to go change.

"Oh, no, you don't." She took both the dress and shoes from me and placed them back exactly where I had picked the dress up from.

"You're not going to get makeup on that dress; do you know who made it? Oh, never mind; the designer doesn't matter, but we're doing your makeup first."

"Makeup?" I groaned as I was being dragged back to the bathroom.

After about thirty minutes, I had all of my makeup done, my hair was done, and I was dressed. I looked in the mirror at the woman I now saw, and I was shocked. It was me, just a version of me I had never seen. I now looked so much like my mother it wasn't hard to recognize the image. The purple dress and black heels I had on were nothing like what I would have picked out, but I loved them. I didn't want to admit it, even to myself, but Alice did have excellent taste. I was ready for my first date.

I opened the bathroom door and walked down the stairs to wait for Nahuel. Bella and Edward were sitting on the couch in the living room, and they both immediately stood up to greet me. Edward walked over and handed me the keys to his Volvo. I was very grateful that he was going to lend us his car to drive to Port Angeles, since I didn't know if my mom's old, beat-up car would make it that far. Not that we wouldn't be able to get back if something happened, but a car would make this more like a real date with a dose of normalcy, and that was exactly what we both needed. I took the keys from Edward, and he told me that the car was already pulled out to the front of the house. I decided to go outside to wait for Nahuel because suddenly the house seemed to be getting smaller and hotter inside.

The second I stepped outside, I knew I'd made a mistake. The entire pack was sitting outside under the trees, waiting for this moment. It was bad enough I had one real brother to put up with, but now it seemed like I had more than a dozen. The moment they stood up to come to the front of the house, I started walking back inside.

"I hope you're going back in there to put on something longer," Paul yelled to me.

"Do you have makeup on?" Jared asked, laughing.

I stopped dead in my tracks, knowing that I might as well get this done and over with before Nahuel got out here. I had to deal with them, and it would be easier without him here.

I turned around, put my hands on my hips, and said to them, "What I have on is perfectly long enough, and yes, I have makeup on. If none of you mongrels have noticed, I'm a woman and not one of you little boys. I'm going on a date tonight, not that I need to explain myself to any of you. You'll all behave when Nahuel comes out here and we leave. None of you will follow us, and none of you will ask us anything about it when we return. I don't ask any of you about your relationships, although I see plenty of images in your heads about all of the girls in your lives, and I know that none of you actually contemplated that I might find someone other than Sam." I could see Sam look down at the mention of his name, and feel how sorry he still was about what happened between us. "But I've found someone, and he's not going anywhere, so drop the older brother act. Either I'm one of the guys and will be treated as one, or I'm a lady and you'll treat me that way. You can't have it both ways. Make your choice now, but either way, I don't answer to any of you when it comes to me and my wardrobe and my relationships with the opposite sex."

The dumbfounded looks on their faces were priceless. All of them stood there, open-mouthed and speechless. I guess knowing that we were actually going out on a date together made it more than puppy lust for the pack, and they knew the teasing wasn't going to make a difference. After a few moments, Paul was again the first one to say anything.

"Go get you some," he laughed and walked up and punched me softly on the arm. Of course, Paul would pick to treat me as one of the guys, but at least he was making an attempt. After that, all of them came over and apologized to me about how they'd behaved, and there seemed to be a new understanding on where we all stood-that is, everyone except Jake and Sam. They both stayed under the trees, not saying a word.

Finally, Nahuel walked out the front door, and my heart stopped. I'd never seen a sexier man. He was wearing a suit, and it fit so well it could have been stitched together on him. I couldn't move because I was staring at him, and I was wondering how was I going to make it through a whole night with him alone. I was suddenly very nervous.

Nahuel walked over to me, grabbed me by the waist, and pulled me into a hug.

"You look almost edible," he whispered to me as his lips brushed my ear lightly. A tingle shot down my spine, and I melted into his touch.

"I think we should get going." I pulled out of the embrace but kept the contact by holding his hand.

Suddenly, I realized Jake and Sam were standing between us and the car. _This isn't going to be easy_, I thought as we strode toward the car.

"Don't worry, Leah; I'll take care of your pack." Nahuel squeezed my hand, just like he'd done the first time we held hands and he noticed Emmett had angered me.

Sam and Jake walked over to us, and they each grabbed one of Nahuel's shoulders, trying to separate us.

"Nahuel, can we chat for a second?" Sam asked, more as a demand than a question.

"Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of Leah; we have no secrets."

"Well, okay, if you hurt her, we'll rip your body apart and burn you. How's that?" Jake laughed, but he was totally serious.

"Okay, guys, enough," I declared, pissed off that they were involving themselves in this.

"It's okay, Leah. They care about you, which is why they're being protective. Once they realize that I care about you just as much as they do, they'll ease up."

"Don't count on it. But Leah is a big girl, and if she wants to go out with you, we have to let her. Just don't let anything happen to her, and we'll see if you get to go out again." Sam was obviously trying to control his anger. He knew if he ruined this for me, I'd never forgive him.

They both finally backed off, and we headed towards the car. Nahuel walked over and opened the door for me first. He really was a gentleman. Sitting down, I hadn't even brought the key to the ignition before he was already seated next to me. We were finally on our way to our normal date and to have the talk we desperately needed.


	9. Chapter 9

I don't own any of the characters; I'm just glad I can write part of their story.

I have to thank my beta jkane180 and my pre-readers Bforqueen and SarahBella.

The first few minutes were dead silent in the car. I could hear the purr of Edward's Aston Martin roaring underneath me. I was surprised that the car he let me drive was his precious Aston Martin; I'd thought it would be his Volvo, but it wasn't like if I crashed it, he couldn't afford a new one. The Cullens lived so differently from my pack. It was almost unbelievable to think we only lived minutes from each other. I'd been spending so much time at their house lately; first because of the Volturi, and now because of Nahuel. He had captured my heart more than I ever thought would be possible, but what did I really know about him? Almost nothing and that needed to change.

"Nahuel, would you like to play a game while we drive to Port Angeles?" I asked, breaking the silence and hoping this game would get me some answers that I needed.

"I'd do anything you want, Leah. That is, as long as it doesn't distract you from driving. I did promise Jacob that you would arrive home safely," he chuckled.

"Okay, the game is called twenty questions. Have you played before?"

"No, but let me guess, we ask each other twenty questions?"

"Well, yeah. We take turns asking, and we have to answer no matter what. Sound good?" I was hoping that he was willing to play.

"I understand the rules. Ladies first," he said, and smiled at me.

God, that smile! It made me lose all train of thought. _Focus, Leah_, I thought to myself, looking back at the road and thinking about the questions I should ask him. There were so many things I needed to learn, but where should I start?

"Okay, my first question is what did you do for fun back home?"

Nahuel was quiet for a few minutes before he finally answered.

"Mostly, I took care of my sisters at home. Rarely did I have any free time. I hunted a lot; although I prefer eating to drinking blood, most of my sisters aren't the same. I would take them out, they would hunt for blood' and I would hunt animals. Don't misunderstand me though, Leah; I'm half vampire, and I do drink human blood. At least, I did until I came here. I just don't need it as frequently as other vampires."

He paused for a moment before he put his hand on my leg, not in a romantic way, but so he could use his ability on me. I could hear my heart beat quicken after he started talking about being a vampire, and I was sure he did too. But with his instant touch, I started to calm. Then he continued.

"I love running through the trees alone. It's a great escape, with no sounds around me, no vampires, no humans, just me and the rain-forest. Although, I wouldn't mind running with a wolf by my side." He placed that killer smile back on his beautiful face.

I turned and looked him directly in the eyes; he was baring his soul to me. I quickly turned my eyes back to the road, but I could feel the blush radiating off my face. He took his hand off my leg and brushed my cheek with his long, marble fingers. The touch instantly cooled my skin, but as soon as I thought about his hand on me, it made my face warm again.

"Did I answer your question, Leah? Is it my turn to ask now?" Nahuel asked me as he took his hand back and placed it on his own lap.

"Yes, you answered perfectly. I've already started to learn a lot about you, and that was only the first question. You can ask me now, if you want to."

"Leah, do you like me only because you imprinted on me?" He challenged, looking down at the floorboard of the car and not at me.

Wow, he got right to the point-no build up at all. I wanted to laugh thinking about that, but I knew he would think I was laughing at him, and I didn't want him to get that impression.

"Nahuel, I'm not going to lie to you; my first instinct was to kill you. Then I imprinted, and I had no choice. You're my other half. My soul isn't complete without you. Now that I know what it feels like to have you around, it literally hurts to be away from you. My feelings started out because of the imprinting, but now, they're much more than that. I feel more for you than I should in such a short amount of time. I can't deny my feelings, but I don't know where they came from."

There was only quiet. He made no sounds for at least five minutes; I wasn't sure that I hadn't upset him. I had no idea what to say. He'd asked me such a difficult question to answer, and it was my own fault; I wanted to play the game. Now, all I could think about was his reaction because I couldn't read anything off of him.

"Pull over, Leah; right now, please," Nahuel spoke with a flat voice. I didn't know exactly what happened.

I pulled over so that we were on the side of the one lane road. We were in the middle of nowhere, and no one was around. He got out of the car and started pacing. I stayed in the car, not sure what to do. I had obviously upset him by telling him that my feelings started because of the imprint, but I wasn't going to lie to him-ever. After a few minutes, I decided to get out of the car. If we were going to have an argument, this was just as good a place as any, and there wouldn't be any witnesses if I had to phase.

"Nahuel, I'm sorry." I closed the car door and walked around it to where he was pacing.

I was instantly pinned to the passenger side of the Aston Martin. Nahuel had his hands on either side of me, encaging me with his body. He was built so slight, but he was just as strong as any vampire I'd come in contact with, and he was using his strength to hold me exactly where he wanted me. He was breathing so heavy, panting almost. Suddenly, he was all over me-his mouth on mine, one hand in my hair, one hand between my back and the car, pulling my body into his. This was not the Nahuel I was used to, but I liked it. He kissed me more passionately than I have ever been kissed; it was almost animalistic. I finally had to pull away because I did actually have to breathe, and he had the biggest smirk on his face.

"What was that, Nahuel?" I choked out, still trying to catch my breath from the impromptu make out session.

"I'm sorry, Leah," he murmured, as he brushed my hair out of my face.

"You telling me how much you feel for me just overwhelmed me. I had to put my hands on you, and I knew that I couldn't do that in the car. I have very strong feelings for you, more than I could ever imagine, and I don't know if that's because of the imprint, or if they're just because you're so wonderful. Leah." He took my chin in his hands and brought me in for another long, passionate kiss.

"Leah, thank you for going out with me tonight. I think I can control myself now. Would you like to get back on the road?"

I was stunned. Did he really just have me pull over because he couldn't trust himself to keep his hands off of me? I've never been so excited to be wanted before. I loved that he couldn't help himself with me. No one had ever wanted me like that. Even when I was with Sam, we were kids; we fooled around, but nothing like this. He loved me, and I knew that, but Nahuel couldn't live without me, and that excited me.

We got back on the road and continued our little game, but we kept it a little lighter. The drive seemed to fly by as we joked with each other and asked each other questions. I asked him what his favorite color was, and he said purple and looked at my dress, like he was going to eat me. I suddenly blushed, knowing he was just as excited to be on this date as I was. We were finally getting some alone time and getting to know each other better. With each moment, I became more comfortable with him being so close to me, like we were meant to always be this close.

After a little while, I pulled into a parking lot on the back side of the small movie theater and other shops. Neither Nahuel nor I had been here before, so we were both cautious about being in a place with so many people. I wasn't sure how Nahuel would be able to handle being around so many people that weren't either vampires or wolves, and I actually wasn't too happy being so far from my pack.

Before I could reach my door handle, Nahuel had already opened my door and was reaching his hand in to help me out of the car. I took his hand and stepped out of the car, leaning into him for support, since it had been a while since I had worn heels this high. It sent a tingle throughout my body when his hand wrapped around my waist, pulling me into his side. We melted into each other perfectly.

Across the street, I saw two people I knew were friends with Bella. They'd been at Bella and Edward's wedding, and the boy had feelings for Bella-I knew that-but I had no idea what their names were. They were two people I would very much like to avoid tonight. They didn't know me, so that shouldn't be an issue.

We continued walking until we reached the movie theater and got in line with everyone else.

"It looks like our only two choices are Jumper or The Other Boleyn Girl. You can pick," I spoke with a little too much disgust when I said The Other Boleyn Girl.

Laughing, Nahuel replied, "Even without the sound of your voice, I never would have picked The Other Boleyn Girl over Jumper. I think we might have a lot in common, Leah."

Nahuel walked up to the ticket counter when it was our turn and requested our tickets. The girl behind the window seemed very impressed with him, and I couldn't help but ease into him and wrap his arm around my shoulder, staking my claim on him.

"I'm sorry, sir, but that movie is actually sold out. We only have seats available for our showing of The Other Boleyn Girl," the girl conveyed as she winked at him and waited for a response.

"It's okay. We can laugh through the movie at the angst. Plus, we'll be together, so it doesn't really matter to me." I kissed him on the cheek while looking right at the girl.

"Two for The Other Boleyn Girl it is," Nahuel laughed and handed the money to the girl through the window.

We took our tickets and headed inside. After grabbing some popcorn and two drinks, we sat down in the fairly packed theater. I was suddenly so nervous. I had never been to the movies with a guy before this. It became awkwardly silent between us, and the movie hadn't even started yet. My head started spinning in thoughts, but nothing was coming out of my mouth.

"I've never been on a date like this, Leah. I can tell that you're nervous, but so am I, and neither of us really have anything to be nervous about, right? I just want to have a nice night, and maybe if it isn't too late after the movie, we can catch a bite to eat."

Nahuel put his hand on my knee, and that instant calm of his drifted over my entire body. I let it take control this time, and I put my hand over his showing my approval. The lights faded in the theater, and a hush fell over the crowd. I looked at Nahuel and smiled, knowing that he didn't want to watch this movie any more than I did, but we were here together, and that was all that mattered. About thirty minutes into the movie, I couldn't take any more of the chick flick crap.

"Nahuel, would you be terribly upset if we left and headed to get something to eat now? I just can't watch another minute of this," I whispered to him restlessly.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me up from the seat, and we walked out of the theater.

"I'm so glad you said something. That wasn't my kind of movie at all, but I was afraid you were enjoying it, otherwise I would have left a while ago," he chuckled. He definitely had more manners than I did, waiting to say that outside of the quiet theater.

We walked hand in hand down the quaint street towards a little restaurant we'd seen when we drove into the parking lot. Despite the awful movie, we were both actually having a great time. Suddenly, there was a strange electricity in the air, and I could tell that Nahuel felt it too. Something was off. About half a block from the restaurant, we noticed two people being cornered by four other people. Normally, I wouldn't intercede-this wasn't my territory-and these weren't my people. Nahuel, however, sensed something before I did and pulled me behind him.

"Leah, we need to get out of here now!" He demanded as he pushed me back towards the car and away from the group.

"Nahuel, what's wrong? They aren't bothering us, and between you and me, we can take them," I questioned as I got a big whiff of the air, and it was coated in the scent of vampire. My sense of smell must have been off being around Nahuel and the Cullens so much. I recognized the smell of the four vampires that had Bella's friends cornered in the ally. This was not good.


End file.
